[BEAUTY BY BIOGRAPH COMPETITION]

Fragment from a Beauty By Biograph Competition, filmed at an unidentified location. Women pose. Contestants are identified by numbers either preceding their performance, or beside them in the frame.

0 ft. Patrons are asked to vote for competitors from the standpoint of merit only, and are asked to particularly note, as competitors are screened, the number for which they intend to vote. On leaving theatre kindly place voting papers in ballot boxes provided in vestibule.
5 ft. 'Where numbers are shown separately, the number in such cases will precede picture of competitor'.
16 ft. M.S. woman turning head, smiling [no.] 48.
32 ft. 'Number 37'.
35 ft. Woman in headscarf pouring liquid into bowl & stirring with spoon.
59 ft. 'Number 3'.
62 ft. M.S. Woman facing camera turning left & right profile in front of curtain.
71 ft. 'Number 4'.
74 ft. Woman, same pose as previous shot.
88 ft. 'Number 5'.
90 ft. Woman in same pose.
105 ft. 'Number 6'.
107 ft. M.S. woman seated on chair with book.
122 ft. 'Number 7'.
124 ft. Woman as above.
133 ft. 'Number 50'.
134 ft. C.U. Woman.
158 ft. 'Number 8'.
161 ft. Woman as above, background of ferns, etc, ext. shot.
173 ft. 'Number 9'.
174 ft. Woman, ext. shot, full length.
180 ft. 'Number 10'.
183 ft. Woman.
194 ft. Woman [no.] 58, as above, walks towards camera.
222 ft. 'Number 11'.
224 ft. Woman as above.
234 ft. Woman as above.
241 ft. 'Number 20'.
244 ft. Woman in headscarf & hoop earrings poses with cards.
268 ft. M.S. contestant no. 47.
286 ft. 'Number 21'.
294 ft. M.C.U. woman turns for camera.
303 ft. M.S. contestant 52.
324 ft. M.S. contestant 49.
328 ft. M.S. contestant 44.
346 ft. M.S. contstant 46.
363 ft. M.S. contestant 42 - walks into camera, out of focus.
383 ft. 'Number 27'.
389 ft. M.S. woman standing in front of palm tree.
399 ft. 'Number 28'.
401 ft. M.S. woman.
411 ft. 'At the conclusion of the competition, the winners of the first, second and third prizes, will be specially featured at all associated theatres'. (some decomposition).
418 ft. Finish.

Note: “At least thirteen filmed beauty contests held in the years 1922 and 1923 were known by the general title Beauty By Biograph. Biograph is here used as a variant form of cinematograph and not associated in any way with the large format turn-of-the-century British Biograph, nor with the American Biograph Company, famous for the early films of D.W. Griffith.
This film has characteristics similar to the previous ones but was filmed outdoors, and the contestant’s number is visible within the frame for some of the entrants only. In this case we do not know the details of where or by whom the film was shot. Nor do we know the names of the contestants.
Beauty By Biograph contests gave aspirants to screen fame an opportunity to display their histrionic ability, or just to pose. Candidates in the contest were filmed and the winner selected by public vote when the film was screened at the local picture theatre. In the case of Levin’s B.B.B. Contest, only four candidates presented themselves, so the contest was very small in scale.
In some centres the large number of candidates meant that filming had to take place over a period of days or several weekends.
This also led to heats and semi-finals being held before the winner was selected. In this way the contest (and the increased patronage that it brought about) could be drawn out over several weeks.
The backgrounds in this contest suggest that filming took place on a number of different occasions.
There is much evidence of interaction with the cameraman. We can only guess what he was saying to the candidates for them to react as they do.“
- Clive Sowry’s screening notes Dec 2007